Cultures and Identities in Europe - Past, Present and Future

This MOOC questions what European identity is and what we understand and promote as European culture. It explains fundamental European policies on culture, creativity and the media, with a specific focus on urban settings. The course critically explores the formation of diverse identities and cultures in Europe, by shedding light on the importance of memories and shared heritages in this process. Finally, it illustrates the policy dimension behind European cultural and media industries and questions dominant economistic approaches to cultural creativity.

CHAPTER 1 - WELCOME
Unit 1.1 – Welcome and instructions
Unit 1.2 – Where are you from?

CHAPTER 2 – WHAT IS EUROPE?
Unit 2.1 – Is there a European identity? (Interview with Anna Triandafyllidou)
Unit 2.2 – What is European culture?
Unit 2.3 - Europe seen from the outside
Unit 2.4 – Art challenging what Europe is about (Interview with Ulrike H. Meinhof)

CHAPTER 3 – DIVERSITY IN EUROPE
Unit 3.1 – European identity and national identities
Unit 3.2 – Diversity policies in EU institutions: intercultural cities (Interview with Irena Guidikova)
Unit 3.3 – “Unity in diversity”: really?
Unit 3.4 – Cosmopolitanism in Europe and the Venice Biennale (Interview with Monica Sassatelli)

CHAPTER 4 – THE ROLE OF MEMORY AND HERITAGE
Unit 4.1 – The past in the present of Europe
Unit 4.2 – Memory vs. history: the role of Museums (Interview with Dominique Poulot)
Unit 4.3 – Contested cultural heritages: the case of Holocaust (Interview with Jasper Chalcraft)
Unit 4.4 – A transnational cultural heritage: the case of UNESCO (Interview with Gerard Delanty)

CHAPTER 5 – CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN EUROPE
Unit 5.1 – What are cultural industries?
Unit 5.2 – Culture, creativity and urban spaces
Unit 5.3 – Culture in urban spaces, today (Interview with Arturo Rodríguez Morató)
Unit 5.4 – Pluralism in European media information (Interview with Pier Luigi Parcu)

CHAPTER 6 – CULTURAL CREATIVITY AND EUROPEAN FUTURES
Unit 6.1 – “European culture” as a brand
Unit 6.2 – Beyond cultural creativity as innovation (Interview with Matías Zarlenga)
Unit 6.3 – The EU “Creative Europe” program: what’s next? (Interview with Philip Schlesinger)
Unit 6.4 – Visions of Europe: media activism